We Go With The Flow
River Aude Artists Lab was founded on a simple belief: creativity thrives when we slow down, stay curious, and trust ourselves. Here, artists find the time, space, and community to discover where their work leads.
Our North Star
Our mission is simple: to create a place where artists can slow down, take creative risks, and reconnect with the joy of making. By bringing together artists from around the world in the heart of southern France, we foster artistic growth, cultural exchange, and a lifelong creative community.
The Current That Carries Us…
The Lab is powered by a board and advisory board made up of artists, educators, nonprofit leaders, and creative thinkers who share a common dream: to give back to the art world that shaped us. We’ve come together not out of obligation, but out of belief in the value of time, space, and community for artists to do their best work. This project isn’t just a residency; it’s a reflection of years of experience, gratitude, and the desire to create something lasting for the next generation of makers.
Leadership
Guided by artists. Strengthened by community. Built for creative exchange.
When artists, educators, and nonprofit leaders come together around shared values and a belief in the power of creativity, remarkable things can happen.
The River Aude Artists Lab is led by a team with decades of experience across fine art, arts education, creative direction, nonprofit leadership, and international collaboration. Together, they are building a place where artists from around the world can slow down, make meaningful work, and connect with both one another and the local community.
Rooted in Quillan, France, RAAL was created to make international artist residencies more accessible while enriching the cultural life of the Upper Aude Valley through exhibitions, workshops, lectures, figure drawing, and community programming.
This isn’t about prestige. It’s about process. It’s about giving artists the time, space, and support to experiment, take risks, and rediscover why they make art in the first place.
Dave Giles – Founder & Executive Director
Byron Hunte – Director of Strategy & Partnerships
Michael O’Donahue – Co-Founder & Board Chair
Artists in Residences
Christopher Felver
Chris is an internationally recognized photographer and filmmaker whose work has documented some of the most influential artists, writers, musicians, and cultural figures of the past half century. His films and portraits form an extraordinary archive of the American creative avant-garde, built through decades of close collaboration with his subjects.
Felver’s work includes films on Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Cecil Taylor, Tony Cragg, and other major figures in contemporary art and culture. His approach combines intimate portraiture, conversation, performance, and observation, creating films that preserve not only an artist’s work but their voice, presence, and ideas.
In 2026, Chris joined The River Aude Artists Lab as an Artist in Residence, working with producer and editor David C. Giles on JOHN CAGE: UNCAGED, an original feature documentary built from Felver’s remarkable archive of more than 70 interviews with artists, composers, writers, and collaborators connected to John Cage. During the residency, Felver and Giles are developing the film’s structure and final edit, bringing decades of material together into a new portrait of Cage, his ideas, and his continuing influence.
Gail Borowski – Founding Artistic Advisor
Resident Artist • Mentor • College for Creative Studies Alumni
Gail Borowski is an American painter, educator, and lifelong advocate for creative exploration. A graduate of the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, her work has been exhibited throughout the United States and is known for its expressive use of color, layered surfaces, and deeply personal response to landscape, memory, and place. With decades of experience as both a practicing artist and teacher, Gail has inspired artists of all ages through workshops, mentorship, and community-based arts programming.
In the summer of 2026, Gail became one of The River Aude Artists Lab’s inaugural resident artists, creating a new body of work inspired by Quillan and the Upper Aude Valley. During her residency, she also mentored emerging artist Erica Campbell, reinforcing RAAL’s commitment to artistic exchange across generations.
Today, Gail serves as Founding Artistic Advisor, helping shape residency programming, artist mentorship, exhibitions, and creative partnerships while strengthening connections between artists in France and the United States.
Erica Campbell
Emerging Artist in Residence
Erica is an American artist and junior high school art educator based in Michigan. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts and teaching certification from Eastern Michigan University and has developed a multidisciplinary practice spanning watercolor, acrylic painting, gelli printing, colored pencil, and mixed media.
Her work explores color, composition, and the quiet moments found in everyday life, drawing inspiration from the natural world while embracing experimentation and process. As both an artist and educator, Erica is passionate about lifelong learning and believes creativity flourishes through curiosity, observation, and shared experience.
In the summer of 2026, Erica joined The River Aude Artists Lab as an Emerging Artist in Residence, working under the mentorship of Founding Artistic Advisor Gail Borowski. During her residency in Quillan, she is expanding her artistic practice through immersive studio work, cultural exchange, and collaboration with fellow artists. Her residency culminates in the exhibition Meaningful Beauty, celebrating the creative dialogue between mentor and emerging artist.
